This is my first time playing OU, although I did dabble in randbats for fun during some time. Also played some VGC during peak CHALK tomfoolery. Loved. every. second. of. it.
All in all, as a first time player, I'm pretty trash, so I wanted to focus on finding something fun to play with and learn. I felt uncomfortable taking teams from other people after I got familiarized with the pokemon in the tier, so I settled on making something by myself with the mons I had the most fun playing with during this time.
It turns out I enjoy playing bulky defensive cores that switch around a lot, then finish the game with something fast and strong after the enemy team has taken some chip. I also had a LOT of fun in the games where Heatran behind a Substitute or +2 Dragonite scored a 6-0. They are by far my two favorite mons in this team.
I started with Landorus-T and Heatran. My two favorite mons to play with from back in the day. I found Lando-T's pivoting to be amazing, but Knock Off + Rapid Spin was too good to pass up, so Great Tusk ended up perfoming better overall. Chose defensive EVs because I tend to switch around a lot, offensive wasn't helping much in that department. I often lead with Tusk or Ting Lu, depending on enemy team, then sack Tusk once their hazards are gone and I've clicked Knock Off enough times to have my fun; This is so I can get Iron Valiant or Dragonite in safely to clean up.
Heatran with Tera Grass is a star here. Against Tusk or Lando-T leads, I try leading with Heatran and cliking Tera + Magma Storm, setting up a 1 for 0 and freeing me up to sack Great Tusk later. If they have annoying walls have Hatterene or Cresselia, I do try to preserve it though, as I found that this set wins almost any 1v1 against walls. I also try to keep it alive vs Corviknight if I have to use Tera, as my Iron Valiant set can't OHKO it, making me vulnerable if I can't Spore the Corv with Amoonguss. In all iterations of this team, Heatran has been present, and it's my favorite mon to play with by far, so I'd like to keep it in the team if possible. These EVs outspeed 4 Spe Great Tusk so I only have to take 1 hit after Tera Grass.
Amoonguss here is replacing Rillaboom as a pivot and as a last resort to get rid of threats with Spore. Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb are filler moves. Defensive set to get chip on stuff and make banded Urshifu really sad, also breaks a lot of Sashes as I'm pivoting around without hazards up. As my Great Tusk often dies, I found it useful to have a separate phys. def. pivot with some form of recovery, as well as switching into all sorts of crap against weather teams, such as Walking Wake and Basculegion. Overall a very straightforward mon that does one thing very well.
Ting-Lu is a bit of a meme. This was Landorus-Therian before, but I got really annoyed by Zapdos once, so I asked around for a Zapdos counter. This turned out well as Ting-Lu is pretty much the only way I have to deal with stuff setting up with Whirlwind, if I can't OHKO them. It also sets Spikes as a bonus, but I almost never have time to do it, just Rocks. Ting-Lu is my favorite mon to lead with against Sun, as I can just click Earthquake a bunch of times and watch their stuff take 50% for some reason. More often than not it's just switching around and somehow recovering 40% HP with leftovers in the process, then getting sacked in the late game for a safe switch in.
As I played the tier, I found a bunch of Dark and Dragon types being annoying, so as a fast mon to clean up my games, I chose Iron Valiant. This was Enamorus before, but I found having to rely on a Scarf to be really detrimental to my gameplan of bringing this mon later in the game to finish things. I chose these moves specifically for this purpose, Tera Electric + Thunderbolt for finishing off Corviknight and Toxapex, and Knock of for Skelledirge and Gholdengo, although they DO need heavy chip damage before this happens, which is why more often than not this last move slot goes unused.
I added Dragonite to round out my offensive core and make use of setup opportunities that I kept finding. I also like how the threat of Tera Normal + Extreme Speed makes some pivoting with Multiscale easy (I *really*, *really* enjoy switching around). Earthquake helps with the aforementioned Gholdengo, Skelledirge and Pex, although Corviknight is still a problem for this core. Iron Valiant tends to finish more games, but Dragonite has been essential as an offensive pivot in many others, while also scoring one or two sweeps occasionally. Defensive EVs were chosen to make pivoting easier.
## Team
Great Tusk @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Substitute
Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Foul Play
Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Earthquake
Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Close Combat
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Roost
